jimlin January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 wonder if buying a titanium heater would prevent something like this. sorry for your loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8 2 RISE January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 I'm really sorry for your loss, your tank is amazing and has amazing growth! I also recommend a ton of polypads and cuprisorb. wonder if buying a titanium heater would prevent something like this. sorry for your loss. YES, definitely! It's the ONLY way to go. Way too many problems from other heaters and not that much more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 Titanium is the way I went, but I've read even these can fail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimlin January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 yeah, my titanium became inacurate after two years, but it never electricuted the livestock either. think i am going to replace all my heaters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basser9 January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 The hobby has made great leaps in the 25 years that i have had reef tanks but sadly no matter what you do if you run a heater theres a real chance the stupid thing will become a time bomb. Just dont run one get a dual temperature controller use fans to cool and uv/mag pumps with a 2nd skimmer....etc to heat. Why run 500/1000 watts to heat your tank when internal pumps can heat them and do some other chores at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 Believe it or not. I used a waterbed heating pad under my old 240 gallon connected to a Dupla temp controller. I was afraid of their in tank solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coral Hind January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 An under tank heater sounds like a really safe alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 I don't understand how putting any 120V device in the water in the sump or display is different from any other. I can't see how a heater represents a uniquely bad electrical device in your saltwater when pumps and powerheads do not. I agree with basser that I've never heard of someone's submersible pump crashing and getting voltage all over the tank causing it to crash, but it seems like any 120V device that goes in the water could leak, short, and drop current in the water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCReefer1964 January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 I don't understand how putting any 120V device in the water in the sump or display is different from any other. I can't see how a heater represents a uniquely bad electrical device in your saltwater when pumps and powerheads do not. I agree with basser that I've never heard of someone's submersible pump crashing and getting voltage all over the tank causing it to crash, but it seems like any 120V device that goes in the water could leak, short, and drop current in the water. True is it the resistance design of the heater circuit ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
basser9 January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 The problem with heaters is they break open or crack and poision the tank a gfci can handle any other issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucelli January 29, 2013 Author Share January 29, 2013 (edited) honestly, from what I've noticed, the stray voltage in the water alone seems to have caused the bleaching. Within an hour of removing the heater, the shrivled up anemone started expanding. It took me a day to make enough water to enable a substantial enough water change. By that time, the polyps on the sps had already started to come out. However, the picture really doesn't show how different the corals look now. They still have pigment, but no zooxanthellae at all in the body. What is interesting is that the growth tips which were previously very light blue to white are the only parts of any of the colonies that have zooanthellae in them now. Almost seems like they moved to the tips before they got expelled. Regarding not using a heater... This is not an option for me in the winter time. Our thermostat is set to 68 in the winter time. Without a heater the tank doesn't break 70. Adding enough pumps in the tank to raise temps to my desired 78 seems like a silly method. What about summers? Am I to take out all the extra pumps in the summer time? Some run titanium heaters hooked up to a seperate temp controller. However, this method is a bit shady as well, since a controller failure can result in either a cooked tank or a cold dead one. If, the cause of bleaching is indeed related to stray voltage, a CFGI should prevent that from happening. Has anyone who has experienced a heater related bleaching noticed otherwise? Did anyone experience bleaching with just a broken heater (ie. no stray voltage/or voltage was stopped by a CFGI outlet)? Again, thanks for all the kind words and offers. You guys are awesome! -Robert Edited January 29, 2013 by chucelli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanM January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 DCReefer, you posted that you'd used a waterbed heater in the past. Would something like this: http://www.waterbedoutlet.com/Touch-Temp-Digital-Waterbed-Heater-Full-Watt-p/wbh-ino-digital.htm work if placed below and in contact with the bottom of an acrylic sump or something so it would be in good contact? Seems like it's a nice large surface area and not much more expensive than the heaters that are put in the water. Another idea would be something like heat tape: http://www.lowes.com/pd_24490-72436-ADKS-500_0__ which could be wrapped around the return piping or just wrapped and taped around the outside of the sump and controlled by an Apex or ReefKeeper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taiscici January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 Sorry to hear this Robert. I"ve always love your system. Too bad this is happening, maybe you should consider a titanium heater which won"t shatter. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToddR January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 Sorry for your loss. I lost some stuff fairly recently to a cracked housing on a quiet one pump. Got bit hard when I put my hands in the tank!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainbowfish January 29, 2013 Share January 29, 2013 Hey Robert, I am not too far away from you. If you need anything, let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chucelli February 12, 2013 Author Share February 12, 2013 thanks Jack. Things are looking better. The Acros are gaining color faster than I expected. The fact that almost all SPS are showing growth tips makes me think I'm over the worst part. Knock on wood, I don't think I will lose any corals. The fish did not fare so well however. Up until two days ago, I was losing about one fish per night since this event. I can't pinpoint what it is they were sensitive to, but I'm guessing it was due to an amonia spike after the first fish died but was not found. I had to break one of the larger branches to reach a dead cardinal that had already started decomposing. Again thanks for the offers. I think I'm in the clear now. Will post some pics a bit later. -Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now